I absolutely love a classic wing chair, so much so that I have not one but two in my apartment. It would be nice, of course, to have them flanking a roaring fireplace, but alas this fantasy will have remain just that. My faux fireplace might be chic, but it's not very toasty.
The wing chair that has been on my mind over the past few weeks, though, is the one featured above, part of the Coup Studio Collection. (You can read my blog post about it here.) I love the eccentric shape of it, especially the wings that seem to flare back and that notched top. (Probably not the correct technical terms, but that's the way it looks to me.) Although this particular chair is new, its shape isn't. As I wasn't familiar with this style of wing chair, I consulted Barry Hutner of Parc Monceau Antiques. Barry informed me that this wing chair is William and Mary style with overscroll cresting and overscrolled arms.
It's not a wing chair that you see very often, something that made finding examples of it rather difficult. I was able to find two photos of a William and Mary wing chair in situ. (And honestly, I can't tell if the chair in the Castle Howard image is a William and Mary chair or not, but the shape does look similar.) In the photo immediately following the text, the bright red chair stole the show. At Castle Howard, well, not so much so, but the chair did have major competition from the room's architecture. Anyway, it's a chair that I personally would like to see more of. In fact, I'm even hoping that it supplants the now ubiquitous porters chair as the new "it" chair.
Now, who wouldn't want to cozy up to this chair? I believe that this chair might be the same reproduction piece as that below, only upholstered in a different fabric.
A 1950s reproduction wing chair upholstered in copper colored leather on the front with copper metallic chenille on the back. Available through Modlife.
A c. 1690 English Wing Chair, part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
An antique wing chair of some type at Castle Howard.
Barry does not currently have any William and Mary style wing chairs in his inventory, but he does have these two wing chairs that I think are fetching. The leather one is an antique that he just purchased (gorgeous!) The other chair is part of Barry's custom furniture line. Based on a 19th c. English wing chair, this chair has such nice, clean lines, not to mention those terrific casters for feet. For information, email info@parcmonceau.com
Castle Howard photo from "The Great Houses and Finest Rooms of England" by Robert Harling; the photo of the red wing chair is from a 1970 issue House & Garden.
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Let's Wing It
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Up, Up, and Away
I'm really taken with those antique and vintage balloon back side chairs. I know that the term "balloon back" is used to describe a few different styles of wooden chairs with bulbous, or balloon, shaped backs, but the ones that I like are those with back splats that resemble balloons. The design of these chairs was originally inspired by the Montgolfier brothers and their invention, the hot air balloon. Their 1783 manned balloon flight captured the imagination of the French people. Balloon mania found its way into chairs, chandeliers, toiles, and even clocks.
Balloon back chairs have a certain novelty aspect to them, one which I find to be charming. The flip side, though, is that you shouldn't add other novelty pieces to the room or the result might be too flighty (!) The same goes for the use of the iconic Ballon de Gonesse toile, a print that is really a classic. I'm not a huge fan of toile, but if I were to use it, I would leave the room's other accents rather plain and maybe even a little masculine. I guess the bottom line is that in decorating, one balloon is better than a bunch.
Image at top: Look closely in the mirror's reflection and you'll see a table surrounded by balloon chairs. Design by Melvin Dwork.
Not only do you have balloon back chairs in this Mallory-Tillis room but a balloon chandelier as well. I probably wouldn't go this far with the balloon theme, but the room does look kind of cute.
A set of four French balloon back side chairs, c. 1950, from James Sansum Fine and Decorative Art. I think they're really quite elegant.
I don't think that these are technically balloon back chairs. However, I'm slipping this shot in here because it's a chance for us to discuss that little closet bar. I love that.
Le Ballon de Gonesse, a c. 1784 toile; from the collection of Musee de la Toile.
It may be difficult to see, but the headboard fabric as well as the wallpaper (or is it fabric?) on the side wall is a balloon themed toile.
A c. 1950 French balloon table lamp from David Duncan Antiques. It might be a little off-topic, but I think it's a fun piece.
Dwork photo from House & Garden, October 1967. Mallory-Tillis photo from House & Garden's Complete Guide to Interior Decoration, 6th Edition, 1960
